One Ok Rock
General information One Ok Rock, stylized as ONE OK ROCK, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Tokyo, Japan in 2005. The band currently consists of Takahiro Moriuchi (vocalist), Toru Yamashita (guitarist, bandleader), Ryota Kohama(bassist), and Tomoya Kanki (drummer). They have been playing many different styles of music, with songs ranging from alternative rock to emo to post-hardcore to pop rock. The band's name comes from "one o'clock", the time that the band used to practice their music on weekends. They chose to play at one o'clock in the morning because it was cheaper to use the rehearsal space during such hours. However, noticing that the Japanese language made no distinction between R's and L's, "O'CLOCK" transformed into "O'CROCK" or "O'KROCK", which later transformed into "OK ROCK". In addition, One Ok Rock can be expressed as "10969" (wan-ō-ku-ro-ku). The band uses both Japanese and English in their music. __TOC__ History '2005-06: Formation and earlier days ' The foundation for One Ok Rock began when Toru Yamashita, then a high school student, wanted to start a band. He told his friend Ryota Kohama, a fellow member of the hip hop dance group Heads, to learn the bass and asked Alex Onizawa, who was their senior in school to join. He asked his classmate, Yu, to play drums. At that time, Taka Moriuchi was playing with another band named Chivalry of Music; however, Taka didn't enjoy playing with them, so Toru insisted that he join One Ok Rock instead. After signing with Amuse, Inc. Yu left the band to pursue an acting career and his parents didn't want their son to pursue that line of work. Tomoya Kanki had been teaching at ESP (Musical Academy) and was already in a band that wasn't going well. He then joined One Ok Rock in 2006, but only became an official member when they debuted in 2007. '2007–09: Early releases and departure of Onizawa' Their debut single, "Naihishinsho", reached number 48 on the Oricon Charts and sold 15,000 copies. Their second single, Yume Yume, followed that success and charted at number 43. After those singles, they released their debut album Zeitakubyō in 2007 and had their first tour, the Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya Quattro Tour. They released their second album Beam of Light in May 2008. In an interview with Rockin'On Japan magazine in June 2012, ONE OK ROCK said they didn't count this album as an album, but rather as a part of growing up as a band. When they made the album, they hadn't been in the right mood, but felt that they had to make it to grow as a band. The band came up with many sound sources and ended up making a punk album. The album's confused origins were the reason why they wouldn't play any songs from Beam of Light in live performances until now. Shortly after releasing Beam of Light, they performed a gig at Shibuya AX. They had planned to release two albums in that one year, so they released Kanjō Effect in November 2008. At this point, the band had gained more experience and were able to do some more serious recording. They settled into the western sound they loved and followed by replacing all their engineers and introducing their music to new producers. This led to some division within the band - Taka and Alex in particular disagreed about how to make this album. On April 5, 2009, Alex was arrested for groping the leg of a twenty-one-year-old female student on a train. He admitted to the charges and the case was settled out of court. The band reached their weakest point at this time. Ryota intended to leave bass and take up guitar. They felt it was impossible for them to add a new member. The band's next single "Around the World Shounen", which was planned for a May 6 release and to be used as the theme song for the TV drama God Hand Teru, and their nationwide tour were both cancelled. In May 2009, it was announced that One Ok Rock would continue on without Alex, who went back to the United States. Toru took his place as lead guitar, and the band re-arranged their songs to be played for one guitar. '2010–12: ''Niche Syndrome and Zankyo Reference With the new four-member formation, the band released the single "Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer" on February 3, 2010. It reached 9th on the Weekly Oricon Chart. They released their fourth studio album titled Niche Syndrome on June 9, 2010. The band had their tour This is my own judgement! in five Zepp music halls across the nation in 6 days, starting Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and ending in a 2-day concert in Tokyo. The second part the tour took place at sixteen different venues until 11 December 2010. They held a final performance in Nippon Budokan, Tokyo on 28 November, followed by the release of a concert DVD "This is My Budokan?!" on 16 February 2011. On August 6, 7 and 8, ONE OK ROCK headlined Rock in Japan Festival and Summer Sonic Festival, followed by Rising Sun Rock Festival, Monster Bash, Treasure05X, Mad Ollie, Countdown Japan 2010/2011, and Radio Crazy. The band supported Pay Money to My Pain in their 2010 STAY REAL tour, The Hiatus in their ANOMALY 2010 tour, and TOTALFAT in their OVERDRIVE tour. Their next single, "Answer is Near", was released on February 16, 2011. The Answer is Alive 2011 tour took place in six Zepp music halls and three other venues from April to June 2011. The band released their first double A-side single "Re:make/No Scared" on July 20, 2011, one of which's songs was the main theme for the Black Rock Shooter: The Game video game. The band's fifth album, Zankyo Reference, was released on October 5, 2011. One Ok Rock announced fourteen dates between November and December 2011 for the Zankyo Reference Tour. The band also announced their final tour for this album as a two-day concert in Yokohama Arena on 21 and 22 January 2012. This was their first time playing in Yokohama Arena, the biggest venue in Kantō region. The concert was sold out with more than 24,000 attendees. Later, the documentary of the Zankyo Reference Tour and the performance from the second night in Yokohama Arena was released on Blu-ray and DVD on 30 May 2012. In 2011, One Ok Rock headlined many music festivals, including Jisan Valley Rock Festival in South Korea. In July the band headlined SETSTOCK 2011 and Jisan Valley Rock Festival, followed by Rock in Japan Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, Summer Sonic Festival, Monster Bash, Sky Jamboree, and Space Shower's Sweet Love Shower. At the end of the year, they headlined Radio Crazy and Countdown Japan once more. The band declared their first overseas tour in Start Walking The World on May and June 2012, covering Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Mao Abe, Hello Sleepwalkers, and Crossfaith were the guest performers of their four concert dates in Japan. They headlined Rock in Japan Festival on the main stage, as well as Summer Sonic 2012, alongside Green Day, Franz Ferdinand and Rihanna. They also headlined Oga Namahage Rock Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, and Sweet Love Shower.11 '2013–14: ''Jinsei×Boku= and international debut Their next single, "The Beginning", was chosen as the theme song for the live action movie adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin manga, and was released on August 22, 2012, reaching number 5 on the Oricon charts. Later in 2013, "The Beginning" won two awards - "Best Rock Video" from the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2013 and a second award as Best Your Choice in Space Shower Music Video Awards. Currently "The Beginning" is the most popular song by the band, having reached more than 100 million views on their YouTube channel. The single "Deeper Deeper/Nothing Helps" was released on January 9, 2013 and hit 2nd place on the Oricon charts. The song "Nothing Helps" was used for the Japanese version of the video game DmC: Devil May Cry, and "Deeper Deeper" was used for the commercial of Suzuki Swift Sport in Japan. Their sixth full-length album Jinsei×Boku= was released on March 6, 2013 and managed to reach second place on the Oricon weekly chart. In October 2013 the band went on their first tour outside Asia and visited Europe for five concerts. Four out of the five concerts in Europe were sold out almost immediately. In February 2014 they visited the US to hold two concerts in New York and Los Angeles and added two more dates in Philadelphia and Toronto in May. They also performed at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio, their first festival outside Asia. In June and July 2014 they joined VANS WARPED TOUR 2014 and performed in eighteen cities in North America. On May 16, the documentary film about their last Europe and Asia Tour, "FOOL COOL ROCK" debuted and played for a limited time of four weeks at select theaters. This movie was directed by Hiroyuki Nakano. The documentary FOOL COOL ROCK was released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2014, and included an extra screening from Bangkok, Thailand and Hong Kong. Discography ;Studio albums *''Zeitakubyō'' (2007) *''Beam of Light'' (2008) *''Kanjō Effect'' (2008) *''Niche Syndrome'' (2010) *''Zankyo Reference'' (2011) *''Jinsei×Boku='' (2013) *''35xxxv'' (2015) *''Ambitions'' (2017) 'EPs ' *''One Ok Rock (2006)'' *''Keep It Real (2006)'' Music videos